Best 9 Greek Lentil Soup Recipes

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKES)

Steps:

• Place lentils in a large saucepan; add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring water to a boil and cook for 10 minutes; drain.
• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and carrot; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have softened, 30 to 40 minutes. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste.

GREEK-STYLE LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place the water, broth, lentils, carrots, onion, celery and 1/2 teaspoon oregano in a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low 4-5 hours or until lentils are tender., Stir in the spinach, tomato sauce, olives, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon oregano. Cook, covered, on low about 1 hour longer, until spinach is wilted. If desired, serve with red onion, parsley and lemon wedges.

ZESTY GREEK LENTIL AND BARLEY SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse the lentils well under cold water and place them in a medium pot. Add some water, just enough to cover them, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Empty the lentils into a colander to drain and discard the water.
• Return the lentils into the pot, add the barley, olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, tomato sauce, 6 cups of fresh water and the paprika and pepper. (Hold off on adding the salt and the oregano). Cover and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat, partially uncover the pot, and cook for about another 30 to 40 minutes or until the lentils, the barley, and the vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally. Add the oregano and the salt and cook for 5-10 minutes more or until the soup is slightly thickened. If the soup is becoming too thick, add some hot water at this stage. Remove the bay leaves.
• Just before serving, drizzle the red wine vinegar (or even better, Balsamic vinegar) and some extra virgin olive oil and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour into soup bowls, squeeze a few drops of fresh lemon juice for added flavor, and serve. This soup is traditionally served with seasoned Kalamata olives and a loaf of good, crusty flatbread.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKI)

Steps:

• Prepare the lentils: Lentils are harvested by machine so often they come with small rocks and irregular looking beans that you do not want in your soup. To check the lentils, pour them in small batches onto a plate so they are able to spread out. Give them a quick look over, remove any foreign objects, and dump them into a bowl. Repeat until you have checked all of your lentils. Then fill the bowl with cold water and rinse your lentils 2-3 time to remove any dust or bean skins. Throw the lentils into a big soup pot.
• Dice your carrots and celery and throw them into the pot as well.
• Add 2 boxes of stock to the pot and put the soup on a high heat until it boils and then reduce to medium. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are done.
• To finish the soup, turn the heat to low. Now add the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. The soup is finished with a liberal addition of red wine vinegar, which adds an important top note to the soup. We often add it to the soup and then have the vinegar on the table to allow folks to add additional vinegar to their liking.
• Optional Ingredients: Over the years I have tried out other Faki recipes. Here are my favorite additions from those experiments. The bulgur bulks up the soup into more of a stew. Despite how successful the soup can be if you add some (or all) of thee additions, I still most often stick with the basic soup. To add the additions, the tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and/or bulgur wheat goes in at the same time as the stock. The additional spices go in during the seasoning phase.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Combine onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in a stockpot; add enough water to cover vegetables. Bring mixture to a boil; add oil, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer vegetables until slightly tender, about 15 minutes.
• Stir lentils into soup; simmer until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Cool soup slightly before serving.

HEARTY GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place lentils in a pot with water to cover; bring to a boil. Drain, reserving water.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add celery and carrots; cook and stir until slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add the partially cooked lentils, potatoes, tomatoes, parsley, vinegar, cinnamon, salt, and pepper; cover with water and bring soup to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low; partially cover and let simmer until liquid is almost gone, 35 to 45 minutes.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Wash and pick over the lentils, and put them in a large soup pot with the water and bay leaves. Bring them to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Prepare the onions, celery and carrots, and sauté them in the olive oil until soft and slightly browned in spots. Add them to the lentils when the lentils are getting tender; after about 30 minutes of cooking.
• Dissolve the tomato paste in some of the soup water, and mix it into the soup. Add the salt, pepper and oregano.
• Cook the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water until almost tender. Drain and add to the soup.
• Wash the Swiss chard well, and shred it finely. Add it to the soup, and simmer until the pasta is tender and the chard is bright green.
• If soup appears to be too dry at this time, add more liquid. (This should be a thick, stew-like soup, but, if heat is too high, there may be too much evaporation).
• When the soup is fully cooked, stir in 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste.

PRESSURE-COOKER GREEK-STYLE LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Place water, broth, lentils, carrots, onion, celery, garlic and oregano in a 6-qt. electric pressure cooker. Lock lid; close pressure-release valve. Adjust to pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes; quick-release any remaining pressure. , Stir in spinach, tomato sauce, olives, vinegar, salt and pepper. If desired, serve with red onion, parsley and lemon wedges. Freeze option: Freeze cooled soup in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally; add broth if necessary.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKI SOUPA)

Steps:

• Sort & wash lentils. Place in large pot and add all ingredients, except red wine vinegar. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. Stir in red wine vinegar and serve.